The Hollow Men
by pseud0zombie
Summary: "Between the desire and the spasm, Between the potency and the existence, Between the essence and the descent, Falls the Shadow... This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper."


**Prototype and all associated content is (c) Activision and Radical Entertainment**

**Title and summary are from T.S. Elliot's poem, "The Hollow Men"**

**All songs mentioned are (c) their respective artists**

**This story contains language, character death, and lots of angst. The individual parts also do not follow any set timeline; these were the ten songs that showed up on my playlist when I did the meme.  
><strong>

**-Θ-**

**Blow Me Away (Breaking Benjamin)  
>[3:25]<strong>

The streets below gave new meaning to the word "chaos."

Marines and Blackwatch alike lined up to fight—to die—for their country, firing upon wave after wave of infected in a vain attempt to quell the rising infection. They could not stop it, though; nobody could.

He alone would survive. He was made to survive; to consume. Fighting from the shadows or out in the open, he would be the one to end it all... one way or another.

Alex dropped down to ground level, warping his arm into his infamous blade.

Soldiers and civilians alike screamed and fled from the deadly flurry of motion that was Alex Mercer.

Only the strongest would survive.

**Two Weeks (All That Remains)  
>[4:17]<strong>

It was his fault, all his fault. He should have been more careful, should have made sure she was safe. How could he be so careless? And now...

Alex could hardly bear the sight of her; cold, unmoving on the slab. It had been nearly two weeks since the incident with the Leader Hunter, and she still hadn't so much as twitched.

But he wouldn't give up on her. If he had to tear every corner of the city apart to save her, he would.

It was all he could do.

**Monster (Skillet)  
>[2:58]<strong>

Heller could feel it deep within his flesh: that burning, that insatiable hunger...

The need to feed. To fight. To infect. To kill...

It thrilled and disgusted him, and he couldn't keep it under control. Couldn't help the savage joy he felt as his blade cleanly parted the flesh of his enemies.

_Mercer..._ That bastard had done this to him, and he would pay for it in blood. Those hated, ice-blue eyes stared mockingly at him from across the rooftop. A sneer curved his pale lips.

Heller allowed his control to slacken, let the beast take hold as he lunged for his enemy's throat.

**Life Less Frightening (Rise Against)  
>[3:44]<strong>

They say only dead men see the end of war.

Charles was beginning to believe it, staring down at the city from his post atop an apartment building.

He hadn't planned on going to war. He'd just joined the Marines to pay for college. Never once had he thought he would actually be fighting... never thought he would actually be killing.

Was peace so much to ask for?

The moment he completed the thought, he knew the answer. He just didn't want to believe it.

**Evolution (KoRn)  
>[3:39]<strong>

Alex dug his saber-like claws into the asphalt at his feet, his chitinous flesh flexing and crackling as he dug deep, ragged furrows into the hard earth. His skin crawled, hating being constrained to this one form. It desired to spread, to feed, to infect.

The infection was gone, its many heads severed and devoured. All dead...

All of them, except for him.

At the end of it all, he realized that it would never be over; not as long as he was there. Not as long as he felt the burning need to spread his lethal contagion, that primal desire that he had once believed he could overcome.

**This Love, This Hate (Hollywood Undead)  
>[3:57]<strong>

Somehow, Alex had always known it would come to this.

The burning pain in his abdomen was already beginning to fade, his grip on the embedded blade slackening. Heller's face was a mask of hatred as he pushed it in deeper, pinning Alex to the ground and giving it a cruel twist.

Alex's biomass tried to shift around it, to repair the damage done to his insides, but he held it back.

_I asked for this,_ he reminded himself. _I want this._

He'd known that they would overcome him in time; all the people that he had consumed. He had created Heller for the sole purpose of ending him, of giving him that final release that even a nuclear blast could not provide.

"You'll understand," Alex gasped as his vision began to tunnel. _Please, you have to understand... when you see._

**City (Hollywood Undead)  
>[3:34]<strong>

Alex was tired of saving them.

They hated him. Feared him. Tried to wipe him out, like some sort of cancer—hell, they'd tried to **use** cancer to kill him. They didn't realize that he was the only thing stopping Redlight from consuming the entire city.

So he would show them. He would show them all what it was like when he wasn't on their side. He would give them Blacklight.

He would burn the city to the ground... and then he would burn the world.

**Second Chance (Shinedown)  
>[3:40]<strong>

Cross was tired of playing soldier; tired of pretending he had things under control while they crumbled around the edges.

His eyes were open now, and he understood what needed to be done. He would turn his back on everyone: his team, his friends, his superiors, all of them. He had no choice to betray them. It was the only way to save them.

He hesitated for a brief moment, and then dialed the number.

**Comatose (Skillet)  
>[3:50]<strong>

Dana could hear Alex's voice calling to her, begging her to open her eyes, to twitch a finger, to do **something.**

But she couldn't open her eyes, as much as she wanted to, she just didn't have the strength to wake up. It hurt too much to be awake.

_I'm sorry,_ she wanted to whisper. _I love you, but I can't._

**Crossing Over (Five Finger Death Punch)  
>[2:54]<strong>

Gladys had gotten the news a week after it happened.

There had been a knock at the door. Two men in uniform had greeted her in grave tones, and instantly she had known: Will, her beloved husband, her soldier, was dead.

Someone knocked at the door again, and she wearily raised her head, wiping the moisture from her eyes. Slowly, she opened the door—and broke out into fresh tears.

"Will!" She cried, flinging her arms around his neck. "Oh, my William!"

He returned the embrace...

And the world went dark around her.

"He's missed you..." a strange voice murmured.

**-Θ-**

**Curious what all this is about?**

**Well, if your muse is being a right twat about inspiring you (like mine is to me), give this meme a shot, give her a good solid kick in the pants!**

**So how does it work?**

**1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like.  
>2. Turn on your music and set it to shuffle<br>3. Write a drabble that fits each song. You only have the time frame of the song to write; start when the song does, and and when the song does.  
>4. Do as many of these as you want, and then post them!<strong>


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